


Trapped in Silk

by wallow



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alpha/Beta, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Sexual Assault, BDSM, Collars, Dubious Consent, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Omega Hermione Granger, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2019-10-30 04:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17822072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallow/pseuds/wallow
Summary: “There’s nothing you can do about your—condition.”The healer’s words repeated bitterly in her head. How was it that in a world where nearly anything was possible there was nothing that could be done for her? Hermione tightly grabbed the small brown bag given to her my Madame Pomfery.“Take one pill twice a day morning and night. You may take more if you feel the need to. Take no more than four a day.”





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This will mainly be a Hermione/Draco fic. Some other pairings will be mixed in but they will be my main focus. I’ve been dying to write an ABO fic for a while, but have been to caught up with other things. Hopefully, this will be the fic to get me back into the swing of things. As is customary, I must warn you, this thing is probably riddled with mistakes. I’m sorry for your eyes. If anyone wants to help out with proof reading please hmu. Other than that, I hope you like this! And if you do feel free to let me know.

_“There’s nothing you can do about your—condition.”_

The healer’s words repeated bitterly in her head. How was it that in a world where nearly anything was possible there was nothing that could be done for her? Hermione tightly grabbed the small brown bag given to her my Madame Pomfery.

_“Take one pill twice a day morning and night. You may take more if you feel the need to. Take no more than four a day.”_

Her gut wrenched, wondering in what instance she would need to take hour pills in a day. These things were terrible for her, she knew about that much, but she rather takes then allow her condition to control her. She popped a pill just before leaving Madam Pomfrey’s office. It went down well enough at first. The pill was sugar coated and tasted sweet on her tongue. Only just now did it begin to make her stomach lurch. She went over the side effects of the hormone blockers Madam Pomfrey listed earlier. _Nausea, fatigue, mood swings, migraine, headaches, and_ ect _._ She hoped to god she was just imagining the knots of pain beginning to throb at her temples.

Hermione turned sharply down the corridor, her eyes never leaving her feet. Her next class began in a few minutes and she doubted she would be able to get her mind off things long enough to mix the proper portions of whatever potion Snape surprised them with today. Still, it’s not like she could just not go, as much as she didn’t want to. Sighing, she stuffed the paper bag into her book bag and entered the classroom. To her relief, she spotted a few familiar faces sitting to the rightmost corner of the room. All the Gryffindors sat packed together, plus a few Hufflepuffs spread out around them. There were, unfortunately, no open spots to the front of the group where she would have preferred to sit, so instead, she took the next row over to the left of them. Upon taking her seat Harry gave her a strange look as if to point out her tardiness. It wasn’t as if she was tremendously late or anything, in fact, she had still been technically on time. Usually, she liked to show up to class at least fifteen minutes in advance, giving her enough time to set up her things before class began. Unfortunately, today had other plans for her. Despite the bad news, she was glad she found out about her condition before she had a flare-up.

Over break she noticed something was amiss. Though, at first, she dismissed it as normal growing pains. She had the sex talk with her parents before, it was all very technical and matter-of-fact. That stuff she understood, but when she began noticing unusual things— _thinking unusual thoughts,_ she began digging for more unconventional answers. The thought hadn’t occurred to her that genders could work differently for magical beings. It wasn’t until she told the school’s nurse point blank about the things that have ben afflicting her did she really consider it. Apparently, what was happening to her wasn’t as common as she was hoping for. All magical creatures fit either one of the three categories. With Betas being the most common, Alphas after, and Omegas being the rarest. She shouldn’t have been an Omega. Neither of her parents conformed to any of the classes, making her an abnormity.

_“Indeed, very odd.” Madam Pomfrey remarked as she studied Hermione’s test results._

Hermione gulped, her eyes refocusing on the classroom. She couldn’t afford to keep allowing herself to doze off. Gripping her leather shoulder strap, she began to search through her bag, pulling out her supplies one by one. She organized them neatly before her, the orderliness of it all bringing ease to her otherwise uneasy mind.

“Wow, how lucky are we. We get to sit by the _mudblood_.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, she hadn’t needed to look to know who it was but did anyway. To no surprise, it was the same foul-mouthed blonde who always made a show of harassing her. She bit her tongue, refusing to give Professor Snape a reason to take away more points from their house. Her eyes darted to Ron and Harry, who were practically already prepared to jump over the table in defense of her. While she appreciated the sentiment, the last thing she needed was for them to fill up the room with their scents. She was having a hard-enough time ignoring everyone’s combined smells already. She lifted her sleeve up to her nose and continued to unpack her things.

Draco, unamused with her reaction loudly pulled out a chair behind her and plopped himself down. His friends followed after him, sitting around him. Great, Hermione thought, continuing to bite her tongue. She had unexpectedly sat in the Slytherin side of the room. Just as she was about to repack her belongings and move down a row or two Professor Snape walked in.

“ _What is that smell?_ ” Draco snarled.

“What are you talking about?”

“ _It smells like_ ,” he stopped midsentence.

Hermione hoped he hadn’t found his answer.

Fortunately, Snape had not thrown a surprised quiz their way their first day back. Hermione took to taking down notes the entire period, glad she has something else to focus on other than her impending doom. Class went smoother than she expected, even with the demon spawn seated just behind her. He hadn’t made any rude remarks at her expense after the first one and instead sat quietly behind her, doing who knows what. Whatever it was, she figured it didn’t matter as long as he was leaving her the hell alone. She made a mental note to show up early next class to ensure a spot on the right side of the room. Snape ended class with drawl about the next few assignments due and dismissed everyone. Hermione quickly gathered her things and excused herself, not wanting to waste any more time on Draco’s abuse.

She could feel his eyes grazing her back. Usually, she would pay it no mind, but there was something unnerving about it today. Against her better judgment, she glanced behind her. He sat leaning back in his chair, an unreadable expression on his face, with his eyes laying static on her back. Her head quickly shot back and she hurried out of the classroom. Harry tried to stop her on her way out but she really wasn’t in the mood to talk. She would to him apologize later, but for now, she focused on getting herself out of there.

She rushed passed everyone else in the corridor, pressing her bookbag with her suppressants firmly against her side. Her heart was racing, and she couldn’t tell if it was from her natural need to flee from Draco, or if it was because her body was trying to tell her something else. Whatever it was, it would be in her best interest to avoid him either way. The only time she really needed to deal with him was in that class anyway. She could definitely handle that.

A hand grabbed at her forearm, practically forcing her back. Her eyes shot back, meeting familiar green ones.

“Hermione, where are you off to in such a hurry?” He let go of her, backing off a bit. “Did Draco do something to you?”

Hermione tried to calm down, reminding herself that it was only Harry, but her heart would not stop racing.

“N-no. Surprisingly.”

“You seem a little off is all. Ron noticed it too.”

She tried to phrase the words in her head, but couldn’t think of a proper way to explain herself. Oh, just found out I’m an Omega today, whatever that is, definitely would not do. She stood still, utterly aware of how long it was taking her to come up with a proper response. It was so unlike her, like the rest of her behavior today. It was no surprise her friend was chasing her out of the classroom with worry.

Finally getting her thoughts together well enough to give a proper response she opened her mouth, “I’ll tell you later, but not here. In private.” Her eyes darted around the hallway, paranoid of all the eyes on her. Judging by how many people were walking by around them, she was glad she decided not to tell him right away. Having just found out about this Omega stuff today, she wasn’t sure how socially acceptable it was to share that kind of stuff publicly. The last thing she wanted to do was to start a rumor spreading about herself.

“I have to go now. Sorry.” She took a step back, then spun on her heel in the opposite direction. She nearly tripped over herself trying to get away. What she needed right now was air. Fresh air, without all these scents, lingering in the air.

She didn’t stop until she was standing alone in an open hallway on the furthest corner end of the castle. Finally, she could breathe.

_Nausea, fatigue, mood swings, migraine, headaches…_

What she was experiencing now was definitely not an effect of the drugs. The weeks leading up to today she began to notice the subtle differences in the ways she experienced scent, but it was never anything like this. This was beyond that. It was like all of her senses were magnified, and her head throbbed painfully from the over stimulation. All Hermione wanted to do was sit in a dark room with her eyes closed for a few hours, but she didn’t have the time. She had to pull herself together enough to run over to her next class. She had already wasted enough time running herself to the opposite side of the bloody castle. Near tears, she forced herself back to the crowded hallway and into her next class.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I’ve really been on a roll with this one. I’m going to try to keep up this pace for as long as I can, haha. It’s been a while since I’ve been so inspired by a plot. Anyway, here’s the next part. Thanks for the support! I appreciate every single one of you reading this.

Draco’s pale eyes bore into her the entirety of their lunch period. He sat facing directly towards her on the other end of the dining hall, not seeming to care if anyone noticed. Hermione bit her lip. He knew what she was, that much was obvious.

She popped another pill and averted her gaze.

While she would have preferred to keep it to only two pills a day, as per the school nurse’s recommendation, an unexpected obstacle appeared. Despite their nasty side effects, they definitely had made a difference. After the pill kicked in no one else noticed her scent. In fact, she thought if she has taken the initial pill that morning twenty minutes earlier then Draco would have never noticed anything to begin with. Now, all she had to do was make sure to keep them up. Easy enough.

Hermione tried to behave as normal and scooped up a few servings on vegetables onto her plate. Though she wasn’t exactly feeling hungry, she suspected a few bites of food would help ease the nausea the pills induced.  Her friends engaged in lively conversation around her, picking fun at each other as usual, but she wasn’t in the mood in engage with them. Instead, she pulled out a textbook and tried to get an early start on tonight’s school work. She read a couple of sentences, ate a spoonful of peas, and repeated. It was only by the time she took her third bite did she realize she was reading the same string of works over and over again. She did this a few more times before accepting she wasn’t going to retain anything. _Great_ , she thought. The pills helped keep beasts like Draco away but gave her incessant headaches and left her too airheaded to get any work done. Huffing, she closed her textbook and slipped it away.

She turned back to her friends, watching their mouths move but not really register anything they’re saying.

“Hermione,” a soft voice cooed from beside her. Ginny smiled warmly at her.

Hermione hadn’t really noticed Ginny seat herself beside her but welcomed the feminine company. Maybe she would understand what she was going through in a way that the boys wouldn’t. She straightened her back, returning the smile.

“Hello, Ginny. It’s good to see you.”

“How are you feeling? You look a little tired.”

“Er, I’ve been better.” Hermione didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t sure how much she could share with her. They knew each other well, having spent quite a few nights sharing the same room together, but she was still Ron’s younger sister. Confiding too much in her felt a little out of place.

Ginny furrowed her brows and placed a comforting hand over Hermione’s. “Whatever it is you can tell me. Is my brother giving you a hard time again? He’s a bit of a hard head.”

Hermione laughed. “I wish it was just that. Believe it or not.” She considered spilling everything that happened in the last couple of hours to her right then and there, but something stopped her before the words came out. She studied the red head’s expression, looking for anything that would tell her it could be a bad idea. When she found nothing but the same warmth she always carried with her, Hermione decided to lower her guard.

“Well, you see.” She leaned in closer to her, cupping her palm to her ear. “I just found out I have a special condition…”

Ginny’s eyes went wide. “A condition?!”

Hermione shushed her, before leaning back in to tell her the rest. “Please keep it down. I don’t what anyone else finding out about it. It’s a little personal. And embarrassing.” She could feel her cheeks glowing red at the confession.

“I didn’t really know what was going on at first but, apparently I’m a…..”

She darted her eyes around the table, making sure no one else was paying attention before finishing. “An Omega.”

Ginny leaned back, her mouth in a wide O shape.

Hermione’s cheeks flushed even hotter.

“Sorry!” Ginny muttered, leaning back in. “I didn’t mean to act to surprised. It’s just that—it is a bit of a surprise actually. You never really struck me as one of those. Not that there’s anything wrong with being one! It’s just very rare is all. I only know a couple of other omega girls on campus. Might be more though. I imagine a lot of ‘em would want to keep that under wraps. ‘Have to be weary with all these Alphas roaming around.” She rubbed a finger over her bottom lip.

Hermione nodded. At least there were a few other Omegas on campus, the news made her feel a little less alone. She would have to make a point later to find one of them and talk to them. This Omega business was all very new to her, maybe they would have something insightful to share with her.

“Tell me, Hermione, if you don’t mind. What is it like to have all these Alpha men after you?” Ginny asked, her voice lined with humor.

Hermione laughed, and then went on to tell her everything else. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

They spent the rest of the lunch hour going back and forth between each other, completely drawn into the conversation. Ginny had a lot to say about the subject, which Hermione should have expected from someone born and raised in the Wizarding World. She was happy she decided to confined in her, and not either of the boys. Though she promised Harry before she would give them an explanation for her odd behavior, she decided against it. There was a reason so few Omegas were reported, as she quickly began to understand from her conversation with Ginny. She felt it was best not to gamble her relationship with either of her best friends before they presented. If they presented. Things were messy enough as is.

Ginny’s company put her at ease. So much so that she almost forgot about the clear-eyed boy sizing her up on the other end of the room.

When the lunch hour ended Ginny left first, with her class being the furthest away she needed to get a head start. They both exchanged goodbyes before taking off in opposite directions. With the buzz of their friendly conversation wearing off Hermione found herself acutely aware of the tension gathering in her throat. She was going to be sick. Cupping a hand over her mouth, she ran towards the nearest bathroom.

Hermione would definitely make sure to take no more than the prescribed two a day now that she knew any more than that had this kind of effect on her. After puking her guts out, she washed her mouth out at the sink. She was now twenty minutes late to her next class, and in no state to continue to class anyway lest she be avoided for smelling putrid. She mustered up the best self-care spells she could to clean herself up. At least now she would outwardly appear in order despite the lingering sickness that still hung around her gut.

Now, she had another problem to add to her endlessly growing list of _problems_. She couldn’t just take another pill to keep those feelings Draco evoked tucked away inside. Something clicked in her mind. She had forgotten all about him. _Gods_ , she wished she had told Ginny about what happened with him. Maybe she would have had some insight about how to deal with him. All she really remembered from their last close encounter was how fast her heart was racing and the feeling of being watched. Everything else happened so fast the details kind of blurred. Obviously, there was something about Draco’s genetics that sung with her own. She gulped. He was an Alpha.

_Gods_ , why hadn’t she told Ginny.

She bit her thumbnail, considering her options. Requesting to be in another class would only end up impacting her education, she knew that. Clutching the pills in her back pocket, she came to a resolution. Or lack of one. Before any of this, she had to deal with Draco. His presence had _always_ made her uneasy. She could do the same thing as before and just put up with it. It wasn’t as if much had changed. He was still a Malfoy, and to him, she would always be a filthy _mudblood_. Even if he had found out she was an Omega, how much of a difference would it really make? With new found confidence she straightened her posture and hurried off to her next class.

To her dismay Draco had been there as well, _because of course he was_.

_Why wouldn’t he be here?_ She thought bitterly.

Hermione avoided making eye contact with him, though she could feel his eyes on her. _Nothing has changed_ , she repeated to herself. She handed a note to her instructor that Madam Pomfrey had prepared explaining her condition earlier and took a seat. The entire front row had been empty, giving her more than enough distance away from the blond. Things were sort of starting to look up for her.

With the drugs out of her system, she had a much easier time pay attention in class. She thought she might have been good for the rest of the day had their instructor not insisted they pair up for the next assignment. Pursing her lips, she raised her head to look around the classroom. Aside from Neville Longbottom, who has already been accounted for, she recognized not a single face. _This is fine_ , she told herself, knowing she was perfectly capable of figuring things out on her own. She actually preferred it this way, as she wouldn’t have to babysit someone else’s work. Accepting this, she made no move to leave her desk.

“Granger.” A pale arm thudded against the table beside her.

_Malfoy_. She said nothing, not wanting to encourage his antics.

She could feel his presence all around her, like a black cloud of aura engulfing her. She chose to ignore this, focusing only on her textbook.

He sat down anyway. “ _Okay_. Seeing as you have no objections…”

Hermione’s head shot up. “No,” was all she managed to muster up. His smell was overwhelming from this distance. She wished she could say it was a terrible odor, but it was anything but. It was something like black pepper and musk. A striking combo, indeed.

“No?” He shot back, a smug grin plastered to his face.

“Yes.” She replied, practically shoving her nose into her book’s binding.

“Well, princess, everyone is already paired up. You don’t exactly have a choice.”

“Fine,” she shot back. “Just open your book up to the page written on the blackboard.”

“Does it _look_ _like_ I brought a book with me Granger?”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay then. Let’s just share mine,” she forced out between her teeth. She went to push the textbook closer to him but he moved himself closer instead.

The class filled with small chatter from each group, all discussing the best way to conjure up the appropriate spell to fix the problem. Hermione, already had a few guesses of her own, but wanted to wait till Draco came to his own conclusion before feeding him any answers. She did her best to ignore him, which was unfortunately the exact opposite of what he was doing. She could see him staring at her from the corner of her eyes, the same unreadable expression on his face as before.

“ _Wow_ , Granger. Did you even take anything today?” His voice carried low.

She pushed herself further back into her chair, suddenly self-conscious of her scent. She hoped it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pheromones Draco had been admitting.

“ _Speak for yourself_. Do you have your answers written down?”

He slid a piece of parchment towards her, his answers all clearly written down. Shockingly, they were the same as hers. All correct. He was brighter then he let on. An asshole, yes, but not just an asshole. Satisfied with that she saw, she slid the sheet back over to him.

“Do you like it?”

She furrowed her brows, not knowing what he meant.

“My smell. Do you like it?” He moved closer to her, his voice no louder than a whisper. “ _I like yours._ ”

A jolt went down her spine. She had no idea Draco was this forward.

“I-I—er.” She stammered, her palms shaking. She told herself to get up and leave. It would have been the wiser decisions, but unfortunately, a less tame part of her quite liked the attention. Which complicated things.

She stood still, or as still as she could despite the slight tremor overtaking her whole body.

_Move._

_MOVE._

She did not.

Draco brushed a hand against her lower back, moving her closer into his chest. That was, until a pile of books slammed on the table before them, jolting them both back into their seats.

“Draco,” the instructor’s voice called out firmly. “Out. _Now_.”

Draco recoiled his limbs, a mischievous smirk growing across his face. Without a struggle he got up and left, leaving Hermione to collect herself. Soft whispering erupting behind her. If she was planning on keeping her Omegan status a secret, it was a little late for that. Draco has single-handedly outed her as one among her classmates. She wondered if that was his intention all along.

“Poor thing. They really shouldn’t allow both of your kind in the same class.” The instructor remarked, before reprimanding the rest of the class into silence.

Hermione sat quickly, her heart slowly returning to a normal pace. She didn’t know how she should have taken that remark, but something about it felt wrong. She certainly hadn’t felt like a victim. She shook her head, getting the thought out of her mind. Maybe it was better if she had. It would have made things a whole lot easier for her. One thing was for sure, things had indeed been different, and she wasn’t sure if they would ever return to normal.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione tries not to get slapped by a very upset Pansy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to cut this chapter up into two parts but decided to just throw it all together. Took a little longer than I hoped because my family has been visiting.

“Draco did what?!” Ginny shrieked, her voice echoing down the corridor.

Hermione shushed her, though she wasn’t sure how necessary it was. By now half the campus probably already heard about what happened. She imagined this must have been how Harry felt everyday being the chosen one and all. Except her sudden popularity was due to less savory reasons.

“Wow ‘Mione. I don’t know what do say. That’s horrible.” Ginny rubbed her chin. “Unless, you like him.”

Hermione said nothing, which was apparently all she needed to say.

She gasped. “So, you do!”

“Well, I, I don’t think I actually like him or anything. It’s just hormones. You don’t understand. He just smells so nice and comforting...”

Ginny hummed. “I would just be careful if I were you. He was tormenting you till just this morning, and if you ask me the whole publicly outing you think seems planned. Are you off your pills or something? You’re not thinking with your head.”

“No, I got sick after I saw you and…” They came to a stop at the large wooden entrance to the dining hall. Hermione gulped, foreseeing all the drama to come. She’s dealt with crowds whispering about her before, but she’s always been able to tune it out. This time she wasn’t so sure she could. Before it was always just mindless gossip. This time it would be much more personal. She still didn’t completely understand the dynamics to this whole Alpha Omega thing. Her instructor’s comment rung in her mind.

_“They really shouldn’t allow the both of your kind in the same class.”_

Hermione _still_ didn’t feel like a victim, but if Ginny was telling her something was wrong, she figured it was in her best interest to listen to her. She was about due for another dosage soon anyway, and she hoped maybe that would help block her hormones long enough to let her think straight. Before today, she would have never considered Draco anything other than annoying and prattish. If it wasn’t for the terrible _amazing_ smell he admitted she was sure that would have at least remained the same. _Well_ , she thought, shifting her weight forward towards the door. She still believed him to be a prat. There was just something more to him now. Something immensely more distracting.

“I think you’re right.” She replied back softly.

Just as she was about the push the doors open, a very distressing looking Pansy Perkinson ran out past her. She stopped a few feet away from Hermione, looking visibly shaken. Tears stained her otherwise perfectly porcelain face.

“Are you alright?” Ginny asked, curious eyes darting back and forth between the two.

“ _You_.” She started, aggressively taking a few heavy steps towards Hermione. Hermione stared back at her wide-eyed, matching every one of her steps towards her with a back step. She stopped when she was cornered at the door.

“If it wasn’t for you Draco and I would still be—” Her anger subsided into sobs. “This is _your_ fault. _Filthy Omega whore_.”

“Sorry, er,” Hermione began nervously, “I’m not sure what Draco did to you but I can assure you I wasn’t involved with any of—”

“Oh, shut up GRANGER. I don’t care what you have to say. Just stay away from me.”

Hermione nodded quickly, like a bobblehead in a trucker’s dash.

Pansy gave her one last scowl before storming off. Her loud sobs echoed down the hall until she disappeared out of sight.

Hermione and Ginny shared a look. Suddenly Hermione wasn’t feeling very hungry any more. She turned to walk down the opposite end of the corridor, when Ginny snatched her wrist.

“’Mione. What was that about?”

“I have no idea.”

Ginny said nothing else but Hermione could tell from the look on her face she was dying to find out. Hermione would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t at least a little bit curious herself. Ginny pushed open the wooden doors and made her way through with Hermione following not to far behind. Immediately half the room’s heads turned to her. The whispering began not too long after. Hermione tuned them out, instead focusing her attention on the pill bottle clicking around inside of her bag.

They sat down at their house’s table, quietly slipping into two empty spots near the end. Thankfully, no one had bothered to say anything to her yet. The whole situation with Pansy really threw her off, but so far it seemed to be an isolated incident. She tried not to get her hopes up yet. Not before she heard what Ron had to say. She expected to hear the brunt of it from him.

“That’s just what the Malfoy’s need. An Omegan bride for their Alpha son. Ugh.”

Speaking of the devil, a certain freckled redhead on the other end of the table made his thoughts clear. Hermione had half the mind to stand up and smack him across the head. Had she not been curious about what everyone was saying about her she might have done it. He was surrounded by a group of his Quidditch friends, each one as meat-head looking as the next.

“Pansy was supposed to be his Omega, but she never presented. Her family line has a high percentage of breeding them. Guess that isn’t true.” He scoffed, shoveling a spoonful of mashed potatoes down his mouth.

 _Breeding?_ Hermione felt sick.

“So what? I’m some kind of _prize_ now?” She muttered angrily.

Ginny gave her an empathetic look. “I’m sorry. He really doesn’t mean any harm. He’s just an idiot.”

Hermione huffed. _She knew that._ Still didn’t make his comments any less hurtful. She popped a pill in her mouth then swiftly washed it down with glass of water. She wiped the excesses water on her face off with her sleeve, not caring how unkempt she looked. It’s not like she asked for any of this.

“I’ll talk to him later for you.” Ginny tried again, scooping food onto her plate.

“Thanks,” Hermione forced out. She wasn’t exactly in a thankful mood, but she appreciated what Ginny was trying to do for her none-the-less. It wasn’t her fault her brother was a raging moron.

When Ron began to go off on some rant _insisting_ he was happy he didn’t present as an Alpha she decided to tune him out as well. They ate in silence for the rest of the meal before Hermione excused herself. While she had more she wanted to share with Ginny, she wasn’t exactly in the mood for company anymore. It was only a matter of time before the pill made her sick again anyway. She said her goodbye and hurried away, hoping that as soon as she left everyone would move onto more important things to discuss. Surely, they had more stuff going on in their lives that didn’t revolve around her.

Hermione rushed out of the room staring straight forward, desperately trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Biting her nails, she wondered what Draco had in mind for her. His name arose nothing in her chest, confirming that what she felt from him before had been entirely hormone induced. Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. His clear eyes flashed through her mind, making her heart nearly skip a beat. If all he wanted was an Omega to uphold his family name then he could look elsewhere.

 

* * *

 

“You took your pills today.” A muscle twitched in Draco’s cheek.

The potion bottles clanked loudly together in her hands, the noise echoing through the classroom. He wasn’t going to let it go. Hermione narrowed her eyes, but didn’t response. She didn’t know what she expected. Draco was never someone to let things go, obviously evident by his treatment of Harry and them all these years.

“Focus on getting your work done. This isn’t a group assignment.”

“I’m more focused on you to be honest.”

Warmth spread across Hermione’s cheeks. She prayed that he didn’t notice.

But he did. She could tell from the irritating smirk on his face.

_Revolting._

“Aw, nervous because of me?”

Nervous was an understatement. His scent muddied the air from the moment he sat down next to her. She took her pill as soon as she woke up that morning in case something like this happened, but despite it she still found herself affected by his pheromones Apparently, her blockers didn’t do much for her other than make her violently ill. Her stomach tossed as sat.

“You should talk to Madam Pomfrey again if you haven’t already. I can smell you again. _Are you trying to entice me?_ ”

Hermione stopped what she was doing.

“Oh, I have your attention now.”

“ _Stop messing with me,_ ” she plead. His persistence was exhausting.

“I’m not the only one that’s noticed it. Look around. Professor Snape has been watching you too.”

Her breathe shallowed while Draco only grew more amused.

She snuck a glance at Snape. While he might have been looking at her before his attention now laid back on his work. She would have never guessed the greasy haired bat of the dungeons to be one of them.

“I can protect you from people like him. If I can smell you, the others certainly can too. Soon you’ll be swarming with them, and I promise not all of them are as nice as me.”

 _Nice?_ Hermione wanted to scoff. She tried to appear unphased by his threats, because that’s all they were. Just threats. She didn’t know the exact number of Alphas on campus but considering the rarity of it, there really couldn’t be _that_ many.

“I’m sure they’re all much more pleasant than you.”

He laughed. “Alright.”

Draco returned back to his work for a few minutes, doing only what was necessary to get by before turning back to her with another mouthful. “Just some advice, _for your sake_. Don’t ever let yourself be caught in a room alone with one of them. Not even Professor Snape.”

“Why do you suddenly care about _my sake_?” She snapped. “Pardon that I find it hard to believe you give a shit about _my sake_ because you treated me like absolute garbage till just recently.”

“That’s because I didn’t know you were—,” he paused, rolling his eyes. “I _couldn’t_ like you before, but now I can.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t like me?” It sounded all too convenient.

“Before you were just Potter’s friend. And a mudblood. There’s no way my family would have approve of me even associating with the likes of you.”

 _Wow, thanks._ She would have spat, had she not been acutely aware of Snape’s eyes lingering on her. Had he really been watching her this whole time? Hermione shivered at the thought.

“You don’t get it.” Draco tapped his fingers on the desk, seeming to look for right words to explain it to her with.

“Whatever. You’ll get it soon, and when you do maybe I won’t be there to help you when something _does_ happen. Consider my offer, Granger. If you’ll be mine it’ll save you a lot of trouble in the long run.”

She stared at him dumbfounded? His? He had to be joking.

“It’ll never happen.”

“I’m serious Granger. Don’t you feel it pulling us together?”

“I-I don’t feel anything.” She lied.

Of course, he didn’t look convinced.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Hi everyone! Thank you for all the love so far guys. I’ve been enjoying reading what all of you have to say. I just moved states and getting all that together that took up basically all of my free time. Yucky stuff, but I’m happy to be back. Sorry to keep you guys waiting on this. Anyway, here you go;

Hermione promised herself she wouldn’t think about him anymore, but couldn’t keep the memory of his scent from forcing its way back to the forefront of mind. She blushed at the thought of and pepper and musk, a smell so distinctly Draco there was no mistaking it for anything else. It brought her back to that moment, with his arm draped around her back. It sent a shiver down her spine, and a feeling of dampness between her thighs.

Embarrassed, she hid under her sheets, hoping to hide her growing flush from her dormmates.

 _That shouldn’t be happening._ She thought nervously. She stopped fiddling with her suppressants, knowing that no matter how many times she read the label and what it should do, something was definitely amiss.

Everything should be fine. Except it _wasn’t_. It never was around _him_ , and she was beginning to accept that it might never be. There was no avoiding him either. His scent was tantalizing, enough to make her change her mind about him in moment. Memories of years of torment disappeared just like that, in favor of more unsavory thoughts. Draco was still a snake, she knew this, and their sudden attraction to each other changed nothing of it. He wouldn’t be going after her if there wasn’t something to gain. He was much to prideful for that.

As much as her sane self knew all of this, she couldn’t stop herself from being pulled into whatever game he was playing at. Relentless and cunning, he was certainly a disaster waiting to happen. She bit her nails, thinking over her next set of actions. As much as she didn’t want whatever Draco was offering, she did. No logic would change that.

 _What exactly would he gain?_ Hermione tried not to wallow on the subject, as it made her feel more objectified than anything. She never really saw herself as anything special, deciding to focus on her test scores over her appearance. Admittedly, this attitude often put her at odds with others around her. After a few years of torment for being unkept she eventually caught on and started taking care of herself, but it wasn’t enough to undo the damage her first years caused her. Even if her front teeth had been less prominent, and her hair less frizzy, it hadn’t made a difference as far as Draco was concerned. Before any of this Omega business he made sure to point out whatever fault he saw in her, minor or not. It was only now that she amounted to some kind of lucrative prize that he was interested. The thought stung more than it should have.

As smug as she was about being chosen over _pureblood_ Pansy Perkinson, she knew better than to get too ahead of herself. It was only a matter of time before he got bored of her as well.

More wetness leaked out of her. She could feel the sticky liquid begin to puddle around her thighs. Groaning, she dug her face into her satin pillow. With every passing day she felt more beastly than the last.

 

* * *

 

 

“Maybe you should consider his offer.”

Hermione stared at her in awe. Ginny was her friend. How could she even suggest she hitch up with Draco Malfoy of all people?

“I know, I know it sounds crazy but bad things happen to single omegas.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, way worse things than what Draco’s doing. Compared to the things other Alphas get away with, anyway.”

Ginny swirled her oatmeal around in her bowl, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

“Please don’t spare me the details. It seems since all of this has started all anyone has been doing is _sparing_ me of them.”

Something like anger flashed in Ginny’s eyes.

“People like Draco don’t just wait for people like you to accept them. Well, they _should_ , but most of the time they just _bite_ them. I think the fact that he’s being patient might mean maybe he’s not as bad as you guys always made him up to be. I mean, I don’t know though. He never really had it out for me like he did for you guys, but you are a little bit of an instigator—”

Hermione rolled her eyes. She could at the very least recognize she might have started more than a few quarrels with him.

“Sometimes you would clearly be giving him the stink eye from across the room when he hadn’t done anything to you in _weeks_.”

Just when she thought Ginny’s rant was over, she continued.

“And you guys would definitely do that thing where you all tried to team up against him and would make funny faces when he passed. I don’t think it was ever just a ‘him’ thing.”

The red head had a way of phrasing things in a way that made it almost painful to deny. _Yes_ , she might have been the aggressor on a few occasions, but it’s not like Draco never went out of his way to harass her for no reason. He wasn’t innocent.

“Honestly if he wasn’t such a prat he probably would have stopped bothering with you three like months ago.”

 _Like months ago?_ Hermione seriously doubted that estimate.

“Wow, I didn’t realize what a Draco Malfoy fan you were Ginny.”

“I don’t deserve to be criticized for pointing out the obvious. Maybe I would dislike him less too if Harry wasn’t so obsessed with his rivalry with him.”

“Why does it matter what Harry thinks,” Hermione half-barked out before it clicked. Like a memory only half forgotten, Ginny’s half-heartedly hidden feelings for Harry came rushing back. Looking at her now, it was hard to picture her as the same smitten young girl she was before. She’d heard all about it from Ron, and exactly none of it from Harry. Harry had never been one to kiss and tell so she thought of this as a good sign.

Ginny nervously recoiled his limbs into herself, wrapping her arms around her chest.

“You like Harry?” Hermione uttered, stating the obvious. It was written all over her face. “For a long time now, huh?”

She nodded.

Hermione smiled. “Well, I’m sure it’ll work out. You two would make a great couple.” They were both genuinely kind-hearted individuals, if anyone could make it as a pair it would be them. Thought, she imagined Ginny would have some difficulty coping with the drawbacks of Harry's popularity. She was more like a wallflower and liked to recess into the background, while Harry was the exact opposite and had all eyes on him at all times.

Figuring it was her turn to start asking the questions she learned as much as she could about her friend and her budding romance.

Out of the blue she paused, her expression changing from a demure one to one of concern.

“He’s been acting odd lately though.”

This piqued Hermione’s interest. Her mind immediately went to Dark Lord territory, as that’s what an issue with Harry tended to lead to.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she started, her eyebrows knitted close together. “He’s been so moody and irritable.” She looked like she had something else to add but didn’t elaborate.

Hermione kept note of this.

They continued on with mindless gossip before the first bell rung and Ginny took off. Hemione’s eyes darted across the table, searching for Harry. Since all this Omega stuff started, she’s been keeping herself at a distance for Harry and Ron. She knew it was wrong, that she needed to do something to fix things before they got any worse, but really hadn’t been in the mood to do anything about it. She already had enough on her hands at this point, she doubted she could handle juggling her own issues and their mindless boy drama at the same time.

She caught Harry’s blurred figure moving among the mass of other students out of the dining hall. Finally ready to seize the opportunity to make things right, she grabbed her things and rushed towards him. She shoved her way through the mass, elbows meeting elbows till she found herself trapped somewhere inside the center. It wasn’t till then did she realize what a mistake diving in was. With barely enough space to move a foot, she quickly found herself overwhelmed. The combined scents of everyone flooded her senses. It smelt thick and pungent, like it could be cut through with a knife. Her body fought between the urge to be sick and to stick around and mindlessly indulge herself. Somewhere inside the haze of scent a subtle note stood out. That was the one she was most interest in finding.

Holding her sleeve up to her nose, she moved with the wave of students, hoping the crowd would lose its density at the junction in the hallway. Realizing she might be stuck there for a while; she began to panic. She could feel her scent slip out from under the masking effects of the pill. A familiar fog threatened to overtake her. Draco was nowhere in sight, if he had been, she would have known for certain by now. This reaction was coming from someone else. She looked around for the source of it, her mind registering none of the faces.

From behind someone yanked her, nearly dragging her off her feet. Shocked, but somehow grateful for the intervention she allowed herself to be hauled to a nook in a near empty hall. The air was lighter. She could breathe again without the muddied scents clogging up her nasal passages. Taking a deep breathe, she opened her eyes. Jet black hair and misty green eyes met her own.

“Oh, Harry.” She started, her voice falling flat. Something was off about him, she could tell right away. “I-I was looking for you.”

“Were you?” He asked, tugging at his turtleneck, face flushed.

“Sorry for avoiding you for so long. I’ve just been figuring things out. Things have been so confusing for me lately… I think you’ve already heard about it from Ron.”

He shook his head, seemingly coming out of his daze. He put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. His movement was quick and jerky. Under normal circumstances she would have welcomed the affection, but in that moment everything in her body told her to run. A particular scent clung to his coat, some type of musk but nothing she was able to identify.

“I’m just glad we’re speaking again.”

His pupils shifted from wide to tunneled and then back again.

“Is something wrong?” Hermione asked, backing herself against the edge of the nook. She immediately regretted the movement, as it only further trapped her inside.

He said nothing back, and instead just stared at her, his irises shrinking into cat-like slits.

She gulped. Something inside her completely instinctual told her to run, but she stood her ground, frozen in place.

“You smell really good ‘Mione.”

Hermione backed up again, her back pressed firmly against the wall.

“Oh, do I now?” She asked trying to play his words off like a joke. She searched around for an opening, considering all her escape options. If she couldn’t escape, she could at least buy herself some time before the inevitable happen.

 _Inevitable_. She cringed at the word.

“Yes. It’s like warm and…” He moved in closer, and ran a hand up the side of her neck. It sent a chill down her spine.

She jerked away, burying herself in a corner. He only moved closer, till his chest touched her shoulder. Pressing himself up against her, Hermione felt the full weight of him trapping her in place.

She felt his breath touch the crevice of her neck, trigging another thick wave of fog to overtake her.

_This wasn’t right._

She could feel her body rejecting his very presence. As a final act of defense, she cupped her palm over her gland, determined to keep it ironfisted in place. Before she looked away her eyes lingered on his mouth and focused on the sharp set of teeth glinting inside. He was going to shred her hand into ribbons.

“Harry—please, wait.”

She smelt him before he spoke. His smell recognizable in any crowd.

“ _Potter_.”

This got his attention.

Harry’s neck shot back, eager to defend himself from whoever came to intervene.

Draco came from the opposite end of the hallway and was quickly approaching. Exhaling a breath of relief Hermione quickly found her opportunity and danced her way free from his embrace. Not bothering to waste her breath on any pleasantries she ran down the hall as quickly as possible.

Shooting down the first faculty member in her path, she explained in-between quick gasps what had happened. She was instructed to wait in the infirmary until she was permitted to leave, which felt wrong considering how much weight Harry had on Draco. Harry’s teeth flashed in her mind, reminding her of the very real danger that awaited him. The snake saved her hand, and she owed him for it. Despite feeling utterly cowardly for it, Hermione did as she was instructed and waited in the infirmary. Exactly forty-five minutes passed before someone else came rushing in. First it was the nurse, who has been nowhere in sight till just now, then it was Draco, with blood trickling down his sleeve. Relief rushed through her again.

“Thank god,” she muttered, before she realized what she was saying.

Upon double take she noticed the large gash in his uniform. The cut itself hadn’t looked too terrible, but there was definitely a chunk of flesh missing where Harry’s teeth must have caught.

He smiled at her with the same devilish grin as always.

“Don’t worry the other guy looks worse.”

Hermione bite her cheek, not finding humor in the situation.

Madame Pomfrey looked the least bit concerned she had been in the last few times Hermione’s seen her. As if these kinds of altercations happened all the time, she quickly had him healed up before rushing to, what Hermione assumed was, take care of Harry. The thought of him made her uneasy. Another tear in their already struggling friendship. Exactly what she needed.

“ _Hermione_ ,” Draco said sternly, demanding her attention back on him.

Coming out of her daze, she complied, resolving to think about Harry later when she felt less conflicted. A clear mind led to better choices after all, that was if she could bring herself to get over what just happened.

“Thank you,” she forced out, darting her eyes to her feet. She never thought a day would come where she would be thanking him for anything.

“You’re welcome,” he said back, sounding oddly satisfied with her response.

There was an awkward silence where he waited for her to say something, and she had nothing and everything to say at the same time. He could probably tell from the look on her face, how she parted her lips lightly to speak, but nothing came out.

Against her better judgment, she spoke, knowing she might regret it further down the line. All she knew was that at that moment, she felt safe, and that there were threats out there much much worse than Draco could ever be.

“How can you protect me?”

Feeling his eyes linger on her, she dared not look back up. Her cheeks grew hot, hotter than they had already been. The hotness slowly traveled lower and lower, till it vibrated through her entire frame. Usually, when she felt this way, it meant she was due for an hour long crying session, but her eyes were anything but damp.

“Lots of ways.”

Growing annoyed, she raised her voice. “Please just get to the point.” She was exhausted.

“I could keep others like him away from you.”

“ _How_?”

He drew closer, the grin on his face shrinking to a slight smug smirk, as if he had all the right cards just sitting in his palms.

“Let me put a collar on you.”

His voice was low and raspy. There was no hiding the ill intention in his tone.

“And what does that mean? You _own_ me?” She knew the answer but asked anyway, faking surprise.

“Of course. What do you think it would mean, Granger?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry I’m not all too familiar with old barbaric Wizarding practices.”

He laughed. “I suppose your friend wasn’t either.”

Hermione bit her lip. Harry probably wasn’t. He was raised under similar conditions as herself. He probably hadn’t known what he was till it hit him, much like it had for her. Still, she felt uneasy thinking about him.

“Okay, and if I did then what? Would everyone think we were a thing?”

“Yes.” His reply came out quickly, as if he has no second thought to it.

“ _Why_?” Hermione spat, completely complexed with his response. 

“What do you mean _why_?” Draco scoffed. As if she should already know.

“ _Why_ ,” she said, raising her voice again, “ _why would you want that? Why is everyone so weird about all of this?_ ”

“Because it’s fated, Hermione. It’s how things are done here. You felt it too, I don’t understand how you’re still asking me why. You _know_ why.”

Hermione gulped. She had felt something that first day they were in class together, but she hadn’t know what exactly he was referring to.

“Okay, whatever. That’s fine. I’ll do it. I just—,” her voice softened to almost a whisper, “I just can’t do that again.” She thought of Harry, his teeth and beaded eyes embellished in her head.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “It won’t happen again.”

His confidence soothed her. If he believed it, she had no reason to doubt him. Calming down again, she folded her arms over her chest. He knew more about all this then she could ever hope to understand. It was in her best interest to go along, like Ginny had said.

Draco cleared his throat, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts once again. “Tomorrow morning meet me near the lake before class.”

She shook her head.

“Also, you’re going to have to bear with me for appearance’s sake. I’ll explain that more tomorrow.”

Again, she agreed, seeing as she didn’t have much of a choice.

“We have ourselves a deal.”


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry it’s been a while. Moving and ect really slowed down my progress. Here’s what I’ve been working on since last update. Thanks for all the support so far. I love reading what you have to say.

Hermione woke up feeling especially out of it. All the drama from the day before had definitely taken its toll. Feeling too nauseous to eat, she dry swallowed her pill and hurried off to the meeting spot.

Arriving at the lake, Hermione took a few moments to collect herself. Draco was nowhere in sight, but of course she hadn’t expected much else from him. Either way, he would be there soon, _and_ if she wasn’t properly prepared for the encounter, she knew would end up messing things up again. Draco was tricky.

She thought over what she was going to say again and again, making sure to consider all ways it could go. Having already agreed to the deal, she couldn’t rightfully back out of it now. That would be too cowardly for her, and she was anything but cowardly. All she could do now was make sure she didn’t get further screwed over in the process. Which unfortunately was already becoming a bit of a challenge. Draco _did not play fair_. In all the years that she’d know him that much was obvious.

Pepper tickled her senses, alerting her to who was fast approaching in the distance. He was coming from behind. It was faint at first, but grew stronger the nearer he came. Swallowing hard, she reassured herself she made the right decision, and turned to face him.

Determined to stay strong, she started before he could get anything in. Her mother had always said, “ _when negotiating, always state your demands first and foremost”_. Now, was the perfect time to apply said advice.

“I understand your need to keep up with appearances,” and she truly did, “but if this comes between my friendships, I don’t think I can go through with it.”

She thought about Harry that night, long and hard. About what he did to her, what he did to Draco, and lastly, how despite all of it, it hadn’t actually been _him_. The Harry she knew was kind, tactful, and courageous. If it hadn’t been for his biology, that he hadn’t even been aware of himself for that matter, he would have never done what he had. That was something she could definitely relate to. She breathed in hard, almost light headed off the scent of spice.

To her surprise, he didn’t look the least bit bothered. He didn’t even bat an eyelash at it.

“Sure, that’s fine. As long as you keep the collar on you’re free to socialize with whoever.”

 _Fair enough._ She could do that. While she hadn’t exactly understood the significance of collaring, she supposed she didn’t need to. As long as it kept her out of any further risky situations, that’s all that mattered to her. What happened with Harry—she couldn’t go through that again.

In his hands he held a thick rounded piece of metal with delicate floral patterns engraved all around it. Her collar she assumed. He presented it to her, rotating it in his palms so she could view it all around. The front center was adorned with a large amethyst set in place, and the back indented with the Malfoy family crest. There was no lock in place, leading her to believe it was charmed to stay in place. Preparing herself for any situation that might pop up, she began searching her mind for all the unlocking spells that could be used to remove it. Not that she would take advantage of it yet. A deal was a deal, until she found any reason to forgo it all.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” He said, a delighted glint in his eyes.

It really was, she couldn’t deny it. Though a bit extravagant for her taste, everything about it shouted wealth.

“Is it even possible for me to take this off?”

“No, but I’m sure you’d find a way.”

Cracking a smile, she lifted her hair away from her neck, allowing him to place it on. She couldn’t help but smile. The smile faded away once she remembered who she was talking to. Draco wasn’t _nice or funny_. He didn’t tell jokes unless they were at her expense. The only reason he had any interest in her now was for what she could offer him socially. For now, she had the upper hand in this, and she needed to keep reminding herself of it lest get caught up in his charm.

His hands slide across the gland in her neck, sending a shiver shooting down her spine. Draco stopped and took a step back. A sharp scent lingered in the air for a moment before vanishing entirely. Draco never cared to respect any of her boundaries before, and she thought it dumb to put any sentiment to it now, yet she was grateful for this.

With a gentle tap of his wand the collar was sealed in place. It seemed to adjust with her neck as she moved, making it more comfortable on than it looked.

“Was that all?” She asked, memorizing the texture of the engravings with her fingertips. She wondered when the next time she would feel bare skin would be.

“You can do whatever, as long as you come to me whenever I call for you.”

“How will I know when you need me?”

Draco smirked. “Oh, you’ll know.”

 _Great_ , she thought, pursing her lips into a fine line. Comments like that made her wonder why she ever trusted what he said to her. She supposed she wouldn’t know what the sign would be till it actually happened. The way he explained it made it sound ominous, like it would work something like a Death mark, though more than likely it would just be something annoying and oddly humiliating like a flashing light. Paranoid enough as if, she didn’t allow her mind to wander any further into that territory.

Hermione huffed and started back towards the castle. Draco followed close behind. His scent was easier to ignore when he was trailing behind her. During that short exchange she could feel it starting to mess with her head. Any longer in that cloud of musk and her mind would have reduced to literal mush. Eventually she slowed down, allowing him to catch up and walk alongside her.

The walk to class was silent, thankfully.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation if she wanted to, not with that scent floating all around them. Not that it mattered anyway. What did she have in common with Malfoy anyway? They could talk about Quidditch, but that would also likely lead to an argument.

Being as early as they were, the halls were still mostly empty with only a few bodies scattered around. No one turned to look at the flashy thing locked around her neck; despite the pheromones she could feel welling up at her pores. It was like she turned back invisible again. Another added charm of having a collar, she guessed. She ran her fingers over it again and glanced back at Draco. He shared a knowing smile.

Maybe he wasn’t as terrible as she thought.

Arriving at the classroom, Hermione was happy to see it was empty as well. The night before she had an outlandish nightmare featuring a scantily clad version of herself doing the walk of shamed across the classroom to her seat. All eyes were on her and the terrible leather-thing strapped to her. Fortunately, today luck was on her side.

Draco glided ahead of her, stopping only to nudge her shoulder forward.

“Sit with me.” He said, heading towards his usual spot near the back wall.

Hermione nodded, unsure why, and mindlessly followed behind. Perhaps this was what me meant when he said he would call on her? She felt silly for thinking it could be anything else.

They sat in silence for a few moments, with only the sound of them unpacking and setting up their supplies filling the room before others began pouring in. A few stopped in their tracks when they spotted them sitting together, but had enough sense to say nothing and hurry away. Others hardly noticed them in their rush to claim their seats. Hermione couldn’t help but keep her gazed fixed ahead of her, paranoid of her nightmare from before coming to fruition. So far, no one had said anything to her, but she could tell from the way blood drained from a couple of their faces they certainly had _something_ to say. Maybe not to her face, but she had a good feeling she would end up hearing a lot of it from Ginny.

Hermione only adverted her gaze when she saw a head of bright red push through the doors. She forced her eyes back up, mostly out of curiosity. Her cheeks were mostly likely just as red as his head, but she needed to see it. The look on his face was more than worth it. Ron went from laughing about some dumb joke to absolutely speechless in a moment. Harry came in at the same time as him but kept his gaze glued to the wall. Her heart stung.

“What the fuck?” Ron half whispered, half-yelled, making ostentatious gestures at her.

No longer in the mood, Hermione stared back down at her textbook.

Draco rested his arm across her own, perhaps in an attempt to comfort her while he shot her friends the biggest shit eating grin she’s ever seen. Maybe this was just another war tactic to him, using her as literally human bait against the boy she hated so much. Whatever it was, she decided it didn’t concern her.

She did have to admit, the look on Ron’s faced was priceless. He’d gone stone cold, like he’d seen a ghost or something.

Hermione wondered if house politics aside, them being seen together would have really been that big of a surprise. Sure, it added some extra level of deviance to it, but Ron acted the same way any time _anyone_ showed any interest in her. Like she was some kind of beast with a lion’s mane.

Briefly, in the past, there had been some kind of sexual tension between the two, but it was immediately dwindled when Lavender Brown became involved. Hermione could tell Lavender had only been interested in being with a ‘famous’ from the get-go, though it hurt just as much when she saw Ron falling for it. Whether he threw away whatever they had for genuine feelings for Lavender, or if it was just to her hurt, Hermione decided it was better to distance herself from it. Now, they were friends for what it was worth, just not as close as before. Though now she was starting to wonder if they were ever that close to begin with.

Draco squeezed the fleshy part of her arm, pulling her out of her spiral.

 _You okay?_ He seemed to ask with his eyes.

She nodded timidly, turning to her textbook. As much as she wanted to trust him, there was something so completely off about the arrangement she couldn’t allow herself to. The fact that there was an arrangement at all complicated things.

 _Whatever_ , Hermione thought, forcing herself to think of anything but the freckled face she’d once spent nights memorizing. She had other things to worry about now, like Harry and the thin metal collar wrapped around her neck.

She always found it easy to get lost in printed words, and now was no exception. Class ended quicker than she realized. It felt like she had only buried her face in her textbook for a couple minutes before class was dismissed. Now that she could pay attention again, she went back to memorized all the material from the days she’d been out of commission. With a heavy weight lifted off her shoulders, she felt ready to go to her next class and repeat.

“Did you see him?” Draco started, using a gentler tone than usual.

It took a second for it to click. _Harry._

“Yes, I did.” Hermione said back, trying to sound as unbothered as possible. She began packing up her stuff midsentence, absentmindedly throwing her stuff into her shoulder bag. Of course, she’d seen him and that far off gaze on his face.

Draco gave it a minute before he elaborated. “It looks like they put him on something strong after yesterday’s incident. It’s about time they kept him accountable for something.”

Bitter as always. She would have laughed if her heart hadn’t felt like it would lift out of her chest at any moment. As in poor taste as it was, Draco was right in wanting him to be kept accountable for what happened. It wasn’t something that could just be swept under the rug because he was who he was. Not that Draco was any better than him for it. Draco used the same tactic to get out of numerous other things in life. But Harry pounced her, and nearly took off Draco’s arm, far outweighing the scale with this one.

Yet, her minded lingered on ‘ _something strong’_. She guessed Draco was referring to something like a sedative. Now it made sense why his eyes looked so hollow. He was definitely under the effects of something. She swore he hardly noticed her, or anything else really when he walked in the room. His eyes were expressionless. It didn’t sit well with her.

She wondered if Harry could focus on _anything_. Hermione could only imagine how bad it was for him, considering the hell she went through trying to get her body adjusted to a much milder form of medication.

Something had to be done. Hermione bit her lip. She couldn’t just leave him to suffer on whatever crap they put him on. God knows her medication never did her any favors. Yet she was still scared to face him. Her gut twisted in all different directions.

“I’ll be back.”

She lifted herself from her seat and hurried off to the restroom. Just a second of quiet away from all these boys was all she needed. Tears weld up at her eyes as she followed the familiar set of portraits down the hallway.

Thinking of Harry suffering hurt so much more than she wanted to let on, but the thought of seeing him again genuinely instilled some kind of fear inside of her. He was just as lost as she was, but she couldn’t stop her heart from racing whenever her mind lingered too long on what happened.

She whipped her tears, trying to look presentable long enough to reach the bathroom, when she saw a familiar face stumbling through the halls. His eyes were still blank and he looked like he was about to be sick. Hermione stopped in her tracks. From the looks of it he’d already gotten sick earlier down the hall. He looked absolutely destroyed.

“Harry,” she called. His eyes didn’t meet hers.

Against her better judgement, she looped her arm around his and dragged him away.

The bathroom was empty, as was typical. No one wanted to use the haunted restroom. She’d spent way too many days out of her life crying in that room, often when either Ron of Draco picked on her. It wasn’t often that she found herself in there with company.

Hermione set him up at a stall, gently guiding him to the floor. She waved her hand over his eyes, checking for any kind of response.

“Hermione?” He muttered, hugging the toilet bowl.

She smiled. Good, he wasn’t beyond help.

She sat next to him, rubbing her hands gently down his back as he purged the drug out of his system.

“Is he okay?” A voice spoke.

Hermione shot up, her eyes darting around the room. When she found no one standing immediately in front of her, her eyes darted up. It could only be one person. Her eyes met Myrtle, the ghostly apparition who haunted the room. She weaved herself around the pillars above them, making a show out of it.

“What is a boy doing in here?” She cooed.

“He’s sick.” Hermione really didn’t want to deal with her. Usually Myrtle left her alone when she used the room to sob, she wondered why she had to bother her now of all times. “Now, if you’d kindly mind your own business—"

“Is this the boy who’s always making you cry?”

Hermione blushed.

“We aren’t together.”

“Then who put that on you?”

“ _Draco_ ,” she mumbled under her voice. Something about Harry hearing that made her deeply uncomfortable.

“It’s beautiful.”

Hermione glared.

Harry started throwing up again.

“It’s not what you think. It’s just for show.”

“Hah, is that what he told you?”

“No that’s what _I_ told him,” She snapped back.

“Ohhh I see so you think you’re the one who tricked him? That’s hilarious. I’ve never heard of that one before.”

“Did you do it because of me?” Harry said, with the ounce of lucidity he managed to muster up. He used the rim of the toilet to hold himself.

Great.

She didn’t have an answer for him that wasn’t already obvious.

His gazed wandered away from hers, an ashamed look flooding his eyes.

“Not just because of you. You’re not the only one on campus Harry. There are others out there much much worse than you. After what happened I got scared. He said he would help me.”

“Are you scared of that?”

She nodded, looking at her feet.

“Don’t be Hermione, I would kill anyone who touched you.”

A chill ran up her spine. After what he tried to do to Draco, she definitely believed him.

“You’re not always going to be there, and even if you were, I couldn’t trust you to not—” She stopped midsentence. This was not what she wanted to get into. Not right now, not ever. Especially when she was so close to fixing things.

Harry clenched his jaw. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You weren’t in your right mind. You aren’t right now.” She brushed a weft of hair behind her ear. “As, ridiculous as it sounds I rather it be you than someone random like Blaise.” It was a half lie for his comfort, but she meant it as much as she could. She just wanted this to be over, to stop being scared of hearing his name.

Harry smiled. “True, I heard he’s an absolute beast.

“How did you even know about him? Did Draco tell you that?”

“Can we talk about something else now?” Hermione rolled her eyes. As for mentioning Blaise, it was the first name that came to mind when she tried to think of someone Alpha-y. From his reaction, she supposed she made a good guess.

He nodded; though he didn’t look happy to do so.

Feeling uneasy, she checked her pocket watching and jumped up when she noticed how late she was. Omega or not, if she kept this up she was going to face some kind of consequence if she kept this up.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to take you to the nurse’s office or are you okay on your own?”

She felt stupid and awkward leaving things like that, but really needed to get going.

“Yeah, I’m okay ‘Mione.” He stood up, wiping his mouth off with his sleeve. “Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine.”

Hermione nodded back, unsure whether she should believe him or not.

“Thank you,” He said with a sad smile.

As she went to turn away Harry continued.

“If you need anything Hermione, anything at all, please let me know. I care about you. More than you know.”

“Er, thank you,”

She felt something in the air plead her to stay. Swearing she felt her collar tingle, she hurried back to class, too anxious to turn back.


End file.
